i wish i could thank all the law enforcement agencies, homeland security, in san francisco, everyone. i was waiting for this to happen. >> and it has. good evening, thank you for joining us. >> we have team coverage on this developing story tonight. >> let's begin with eric thomas live at the sheriff's office in medesto. >> it was a very emotional news conference with two key points. one here where task forces were tracking the murder suspect and then where the actual arrest was made. let's show you what happened and the emotions going on here earlier today as well as what happened in the county. >> we believe that several people helped this suspect. >> the county sheriff held his own news conference today. the suspect was being returned

along with something to help him remember the officer he is accused of killing. >> officer singh'singh'singh'si' were brought down and they're on that guy for his trip home. >> at the same time, at a news conference, relatives of murdered newman police officer couldn't contain their emotions following word of the arrests. >> i'd like to thank you from the bottom of my heart to make this happen. >> police arrested this man, gustavo perez arriaga. today his 33rd birthday which prompted a response from the county sheriff. >> happy birthday. >> arriaga is accused of shooting and killing the officer in the early hours of wednesday morning after he had been pulled over for a dui stop. also arrested today, the suspect's brother, 25-year-old adrian virgen and a co-worker. >> they intentionally lied to

us. they tried to divert us off of the investigation. they mislead us and they ovid ima was false. >> investigators say he came to the u.s. illegally from mexico several years back and was trying to return there to avoid arrest. they also say detectives have maintained surveillance on a vehicle that the suspect was using from the ground and from the air with help from other police agencies. >> without our brothers in law enforcement and sisters in law enforcement, this would have never happened. >> he drew a key distinction between the suspect who was here illegally and officer singh whose family immigrated from fiji. >> an immigrant. immigrated here lawfully and legally to pursue his american dream. he achieved that goal. and his dream was taken from him. >> they also arrested three people they accuse of being accomplices to try to help him get away. all the arrests include the

suspect and five other people. they're sorting that out. now the sheriff here says this could turn into a capital case. that's a d.a. decision and they're still waiting on that, but there's a lot of investigating to >> okay, thank you. >> this case is putting the issue of illegal immigration in the spotlight. >> the sheriff talked at length today about how he believes sanctuary laws are effecting public safety. >> melanie is in the newsroom with that part of our coverage. >> sheriff christiansen said he didn't want to politicize his death but he also had strong words about sanctuary laws and said law enforcement should be able to turn criminals over to i.c.e. >> why are we provided sanctuary for criminals, gang members, it's a conversation we need to have. >> adam christiansen asserting that his death could have been

preven prevented. he said the suspect was in the country illegally from mexico. the sheriff says he had two prior dui arrests and was a known gang member. >> law enforcement should be able to turn people over to i.c.e. who are committing crimes, who are gang members who victimize and exploit others. >> yesterday president trump tweeted about the manhunt saying time to get tough on border security. build the wall. >> back in may, sheriff christiansen appeared at a round table along side president trump. today he wouldn't speak about the president. >> i'm not here to talk about the president of the united states. but i will repeat what i said before. border security goes hand in hand with national security, goes hand in hand with public safety, goes hand in hand with the safety of our community. >> law enforcement officials found arriaga near bakersfield. >> when you tie our hands and don't allow us to work with our

federal partners and communicate with our federal partners about people that commit crimes and who are in this country illegally, we're going to have incidents like this. not just on police officers but on the public that we serve and protect. >> still, the county sheriff called his immigration status secondary in the case. >> a reporter asked the county sheriff whether arriaga had prior deportations. he said he din have any information on that yet and today president trump threatened to close the southern u.s. border completely unless congress agreed to fund a border wall. abc 7 news. >> melanie, thank you. here's a time line of how the whole thing began. surveillance images show him buying beer wednesday morning moments before the shooting. when he stopped arriaga for suspected dui around 1:00 a.m. that's when the shooting occurred. that afternoon police find

arriag's truck hidden a few miles away but he's not there. they tracked him south. put him under surveillance for 24-hours before he is arrested today at a home 200 miles south of newman near bakersfield. we have extensive coverage of this story on our website that includes new images of the suspect and police talking about the impact on their departments. >> the manhunt across california continues for an escapee from san quentin. he escaped wednesday night and carjacked a woman at the nearby shopping center. that carjacking victim spoke with abc 7 news. cornell is live with the latest on this story. >> we're going to hear from that carjacking victim in just a moment but i just got off the phone with police and they say so far, no sign of mendoza and no tips from the public either and they admit by now he could be anywhere. >> where is san quentin escapee? on the run now for nearly two

days. >> nothing has turned up with the vehicle or the suspect in this case. >> police are on the lookout for the 21-year-old escaped convict that may be driving this 2011 rav 4 with license plate number of 6stz502. >> that's him. that's him. >> she spoke about being carjacked by a man believed to be mendoza in this home depot parking lot. surveillance cameras captured the crime wednesday night as the suspect wearing only t-shirt and shorts approaches her. he came very fast and he said i have a gun. i need the key. give me your key. if not, i'm going to kill you now. >> she was able to rescue her dog from the car. i asked him, can you give me my dog and then yes. he said yes. >> security video shows mendoza driving off. he was serving a five year sentence for using a deadly weapon during a carjacking in l.a. county. police officials have not explained how mendoza escaped,

only saying he was assigned to workoutside of the security perimeter on a work crew. he took advantage and walked away. he may have been cleaning a sewage pumping station not far from san quentin's west gate. waste water is pumped out to the sanitation agency a half mile away. the gm says it's common for inmates to maintain that pumping station. >> he was probably one of the fellows that was cleaning the racks out of the pump >> he's 5'5" with a tattoo on his neck and above his right eye. she tells us that her gas tank was full at the time of the crime which may have allowed the suspect to get far away from the bay area. >> thank you very much. this is amazing. a student helicopter pilot got a

real lesson today. he and his teacher walked away after making an emergency landing. a bird smashed into the windshield and hit the back propeller that broke off. it's he's live with how this emergency almost had a very differ ending. >> just behind me here is where the chopper went down. he says his bigger concern are the trees over here. he said if one of the pilots hit one of the trees coming down, this would have been a totally different scenario. >> sky 7 was over the scene of a crash after two pilots made an emergency landing just before 11:00 a.m. >> i was pretty shell shocked. >> they were halfway through the course when they saw a bird hit the

>> airport officials say a large turkey vulture hit the windshield shortly after the pilots took off. >> it was a student pilot flying but then his instructor immediately took over after being hit. >> it was a miraculous landing when you think about it. the tail rotar was impaired and the instructor was able to still land the helicopter safely. >> i thought, man, that doesn't look good at all. >> victor and his group came to see what happened after the chopper landed, amazed that no one was injured in the crash. >> looking at it now, that was an incredible pilot. the way it was out of control, to land it the way that it is, that's pretty amazing. >> the pilots were able to walk away uninjured. ntsb will conduct their own investigation. abc 7 news. >> amazing.

>> thank you. temperatures are expected to drop below freezing in some parts of the bay area this weekend. so let's get right to abc 7 news meteorologist to get those numbers. >> yeah, those numbers are going to go pretty low. live doppler 7 showing you why. mainly clear skies other than a few whispy clouds. there's freeze warnings to our south. if you're heading down toward monterey and hard freeze warnings in the central valley and a frost advisory for the coastline. take a look at our bay area temperatures. 40s, 50s by 11:00 p.m.. the temperatures are going to be dropping mostly to the 40s and by tomorrow morning, we're talking freezing and sub freezing in our north and east bay valleys. 29 in santa rosa. 32, concord, livermore, napa, 36 in san jose. 41 oakland, 45 in san francisco. i'll let you know how long the cold conditions will last and what's in store for new year's eve coming up.

>> thank you. >> new cameras are put to the test and just this week they succeeded big time. >> chippers and wood trucks came out to do some work in berkeley today and then it suddenly stopped. you'll see what prompted the shutdown. >> four football super fans are putting their lives on hold and on display. the least you could do is help pick the ultimate believer, right? find out how, just not long ago, ronda started here. and then, more jobs began to appear. these techs in a lab. this builder in a hardhat... ...the welders and electricians who do all of that. the diner staffed up 'cause they all needed lunch. teachers... doctors... jobs grew a bunch. what started with one job spread all around.

because each job in energy creates many more in this town. energy lives here. >> it's a new network of cameras. >> sometimes the destination does eclipse a journey. that would be one of those places today. 2,571 feet up, san francisco seemed almost untouchable. now diablo shoutable and far in

the distance that really is the sierra snowpack. >> how rare is today? >> rare. >> keith wallace didn't bring us just to show off the view. instead, the newest tools taking advantage of it. high definition cameras, 2 of 6, soon to be 8, mounted and linked to a north bayonet work. >> they all see each other. >> it's the difference technology can make. used to be that you had to have a man or a woman looking out at a place like this. now, not anymore with the cameras, the look out can be anywhere. literally. >> i'm here. >> that's the deputy fire chief mark brown that watched every move we made today from his kitchen. >> you followed us. >> yeah, i did, absolutely. >> this freeze frame of our crew at the look out demonstrates howell the system works. for the first time, fire commanders can move and pan the cameras from anywhere. they made a big difference when an apartment caught fire on wednesday. chief brown had electronic eyes

on it and relayed information before crews arrived and he did so from his kitchen table in sonoma county well on vacation. >> it gives us context. it can help with shortening our reflextime to get resources to the incident. >> so you know what you're getting into. >> he paid for the cameras that will soon cover more than 1,000 square miles as far north as lake county. it's not quite the same as hiking to the top on a clear day like this but in terms of spotting wildfires, it's the next best thing. abc 7 news. >> protests delayed the removal of dozens of trees from people's park in berkeley. sky 7 flew above the park when demonstrators confronted workers this morning. uc berkeley owns people's abc news the trees are being cut down as part of a wider project to catch up on deferred maintenance and this is also happening at other sights owned by uc.

people's park is located a few blocks south of the main campus. it's been the scene of many controversies and protests since the 1960s. >> haven't reached historical landmark status yet but they're trying to tear down the park before it reaches historical landmark status, which would be next summer. >> a large police presence is expected when tree cutting crews return to finish their work early tomorrow morning. >> more than 1,700 people signed a petition to save 19 trees near san francisco's main library at civic center. the library has been working with the department of public works to replace the trees that overshadow the sidewalk. a community organizer alleged that clearing the trees is an effort to reduce maintenance costs. >> four college football super fans are spending their second night on a billboard high above the city of san jose. >> not just fans, super fans.

they represent the four teams in the college football playoffs. while on the billboard the fans are competing to earnhey're als abc 7 news poll. go to abc 7 news.com to vote for your favorite fan. >> just like earlier, janette. they took it away. 38%. she seems to be winning so far with ellis coming in behind her. >> supporting alabama. >> here's a live look at the scene. we'll keep checking on the poll. at 1:00 p.m. notre dame versus clemson at the cotton bowl. at 5:00 p.m. it's oklahoma versus alabama in the orange bowl. both are on espn. >> espn will also carry the college football playoff national championship at levi stadium. that's set for monday january 7th. another quick look at our live poll.

abc 7 news poll. we'd love to hear from you. ellis 25%. >> ruben needs to step it up for oklahoma. >> i know, right. >> he's in last place right now. all right. >> remember we'd love to hear from you. just vote on your favorite fan, abc 7 news/vote. >> yes. >> on to the weather. >> now your accuweather forecast. >> i hope those super fans have a super thick jacket tonight because it is going to get cold as we head toward tomorrow morning. and get a chance and overall it's going to be dry but a chilly start in the morning. no rain but that will be changing a week from today. pacific northwest, getting the rain and the snow. everything is going over the top

bay area. you see the sun and in his mid r50s. and san jose 55. and is this gorgeous or what? a stunning view. and currently temperatures falling. fairfield, liverpool. and there's no rain or fog in sight obviouslobviousl and we'll see patchy am frost and our next chance of rain is coming in next friday. first thing tomorrow morning, do not leave home without grabbing a coat or a jacket. it's going to be chilly. 29 degrees in santa rosa. down to freezing. concord, livermore, 37 freemont. 43 san mateo. 45 degrees in san francisco. it's a very dry air mass and

with clear conditions we'll see good radiational cooling which means those temperatures will tumble. bouncing back by afternoon, santa clara, 57, 58 in san jose, on the peninsula temperatures in the upper 50s from pacifica. san francisco 57 degrees. 56 in the sunset and in the north bay, 57, 59 santa rosa. sunshine in the east bay as well. berkeley, heyward, oakland. all in the upper 50s. head inland and it's going to be a crisp one. 57 in concord. liv livermore, 56 in walnut creek. there's some new year's eve events happening around the bay area. cool conditions at 8:00 p.m. and by midnight as your ringing in the new year. low to mid 40s but no rain

drops. accuweather 7 day forecast, breezy conditions at the coast sunday. gusty, dry for your monday, but certainly new year's eve, not a rain drop in sight. we need the rain. thursday the clouds thicken and by friday you may need to pull the umbrellas out. it's not something that's of the ordinary. >> a long way to go. >> thanks. >> how about something to eat and something to wash it oh! oh! ♪ ozempic®! ♪ (vo) people with type 2 diabetes are excited about the potential of once-weekly ozempic®. in a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than seven and maintained it. oh! under seven?

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>> that's right. let's bring in michael. all of this looks great. >> who is your favorite staff member today? >> you are. >> yeah. let's start with these. we have given these away before. they're biscotti and all natural and fabulous. get your hands on these. they come in 8 different flavors. what's that one? >> what is this? >> one was turtle. >> dark chocolate. >> turtle, that's good. >> that's really good. they're really phenomenal. they're an italian inspired treat. 100 to 110 calories each which isn't too bad and made with real eggs, butter, and they're cooked twice. did you know that? these guys are cooked twice. now, mama chia. >> i go to their bars. they have bars and stuff. >> is that right? >> this is a drink that

satisfies as if you've had a snack which is pretty interesting. it's organic vitality beverage that goes for about $3. the chia seeds are heavily in there. i don't know if you can make that out or not. it's a dense food, the chia seeds. it's a beverage that satisfies like a snack. >> that's a big claim. >> that is a big claim. try it for yourself and let me know if you believe that claim. they're atw walmart, whole food and target and nonni's are nationwide and amazon. >> exexcellent. >> thanks. >> nasa's close encounter. how the space agency is getting ready to make history on new year's day. that's next. >> first we want to thank bay

area buzz for this picture. share your pictures with us. you may

coming up on abc 7 news at 6:00, we'll be live in newman at the vigil for the fallen police officer. >> plus, i'm going to take you on an exclusive tour of the new sales force tower guided by ceo himself on the top floor with the top dog. >> you might subscribe to a movie or maybe a music service, so how about a car service in the pros and cons. that's all coming up in half an hour on abc 7 news at 6:00. >> next tuesday on new year's

day, nasa will make the most distant fly by of any solar system object ever. >> that's when it's spacecraft will take images of ultim ultima thule. this is images as it approaches and then flies over. >> ultima thule is about the size of oakland and san jose together. >> the objects formed in this outer part of the solar system early on and they have mostly been sitting there in deep freeze out there. so we're really excited to see this type of object because it may be a piece of the early solar system that we can study. >> ultima is about a billion miles from pluto. it's likely icy with a little bit of rock as well. >> we'll find out more soon. >> world news tonight is next. we appreciate your time. >> thank you for inviting us to enter your homes tonight.

tonight, several developing stories as we come on. the monster storm. flash flood rescues. a mother and her child trapped inside their vehicle. other vehicles going underwater. from florida straight through new england, the highway wrecks. and the trucker sideswiping a state trooper, then taking off. the major takedown. the suspect accused of fatally shooting a california police officer. authorities saying he was in the country illegally. president trump weighing in. tonight, how they tracked him down. several others arrested. and the emotional moment the officer's brother thanked police. the president's threat, saying he'll close the southern border if democrats don't give him billions for his wall. as questions mount about the treatment of children in border